The province’s Privacy Commissioner has reiterated his concerns about a possible roll-back in public access to information.
Michael Harvey made the first presentation to a public hearings process which began this morning.
The province’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act comes under regular review every five years.
Harvey made a written submission to Chair David Orsborn in November and opened public presentations this morning.
There is growing concern over recommendations from some public bodies seeking changes to ATTIP laws that Harvey fears could result in a slide back to restrictions in the previous Bill 29.
That’s something Harvey wants to prevent. He referenced recommendations from the Department of Justice seeking the removal of the Privacy Commissioner’s ability to review documents that public bodies consider protected by client-solicitor privilege in the course of an investigation.
That ability was removed from the Commissioner in Bill 29, but restored in the new legislation in 2015. Harvey argues that his ability to review those documents is not, as some would suggest, a “piercing of solicitor-client privilege” but oversite to ensure that the exception is to the public release information of being properly applied. He says there have been occasions in the past when the exception was not properly applied.